Baltasar Gracian
Baltasar Gracian
Baltasar Gracián y Morales, SJ, formerly Anglicized as Baltazar Gracian, was a Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud. His writings were lauded by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche...
NationalitySpanish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth8 January 1601
CountrySpain
integrity self judgment
Never lose your self-respect, nor be too familiar with yourself when you are alone. Let your integrity itself be your own standard of rectitude, and be more indebted to the severity of your own judgment of yourself than to all external percepts. Desist from unseemly conduct, rather out of respect for your own virtue than for the strictures of external authority.
self-improvement obscure strive
I strive to be brief, and I become obscure.
self self-improvement improvement
Self knowledge is the beginning of self improvement.
school reflection self
Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.
friends self circumstances
Few are the friends of a mans self, most those of his circumstances.
respect self-esteem self-worth
Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.
friends self ideas
There are friendships merely for pleasure, some for the exchange of ideas. Rarest are those friends of one's inmost self.
door greater invariably lesser open spanish-philosopher
Never open the door to the lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.
argument opponent side taken wrong
Don't take the wrong side in an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side
man spanish-philosopher
At 20 a man is a peacock, at 30 a lion, at 40 a camel, at 50 a serpent, at 60 a dog, at 70 an ape, and at 80 nothing.
harm spirit weak
A weak spirit does more harm than a weak body.
forty judgment thirty twenty
At twenty the will rules, At thirty the intellect, At forty the judgment
destroys integrity lie reputation single
A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity
fools half laughs
One half the world laughs at the other, and fools are they all